Romans 3:9-20--No One Is Righteous

Romans 3:9-20
English Standard Version

No One Is Righteous
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
11     no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14     “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

​19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

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Paul again asks the question that is the main focus of this chapter--"What then? Are we Jews better off?"  The answer is "No, not at all.  For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks," that is Gentiles, "are under sin."  Then Paul quotes from Psalm 14:3 and Psalm 53:3 as we examine what will be called the "Total Depravity of Man" (the 'T' in the acronym TULIP to help us remember five fundamental doctrines related to soteriology (doctrine of salvation or doctrines of grace as they are often called) of Reformed theology.  As you can see from here, there really is nothing "reformed" about these beliefs as the Reformers appear to have mostly tried to come back as close to the original beliefs of the early apostles (like Paul) and Romans played a key role in the Reformation and the lives of those involved in it.  In is this very portion of the book from chapters 3 through 6 that got Martin Luther to see himself as little more than a worm that needed the salvation that came by grace through faith.

The language of this text could not be more clear.  No one is righteous.  No one seeks after God.  No one understands.  No one has done good.  All have turned aside and become worthless.  Wow!  That's a lot to swallow, but that's what Paul said and what he meant.

How can Paul say these things?  He says that people's mouths and their tongues show what is in their hearts.  Their mouths are unclean like an open grave.  Death and decay and their stench might as well be coming from the mouths and throats of those who do not fear God.  Paul also says that their feet are swift to shed blood as they do not respect life because they do not respect the Giver of Life.  Everywhere they go they make themselves and the others around them miserable because of the natural consequences of their sins, and they do not know true peace because that comes from being in a right relationship with God.  "There is no fear of God before their eyes" is a great summary of all those who are outside of Christ both Jew and Gentile alike.

So, Paul then returns to the Law saying that is it written for those under the Law so that every mouth that blasphemes God and accuses Him of being something that He is not will be shut up because of His Word that He gave us, but it also shuts up every accuser that says that God will judge unfairly because we see that we are all condemned by the Law (even the little bit that we know) whether we are Jew or Gentile.  We will all be held accountable to God for every careless thought and deed and those who die under the Law will be judged by the Law.  Paul again reiterates that the purpose of the Law is not to justify, but to expose our sin to us so that we know that we need to cry out for grace and mercy.

There is an image of the Law being like a mirror that we look into to see that our face is dirty, but if you see that you are dirty and then go away without cleaning yourself up, then you were foolish to even look in the mirror.  Instead we should reach for the soap, water and washcloth to wash our faces.  You don't rub yourself up against the mirror to get clean, you use the mirror to tell you that you need to bathe and that is what the Law does for us.  It can not make us righteous, but it does show us that we are unrighteous law-breakers.